Kendra Wilkinson whispers to friends about pregnancy in Las Vegas

By Melissa Arseniuk

Thursday, June 11, 2009 | 6:43 p.m.

Hugh Hefner’s ex, former Playboy model Kendra Wilkinson, is pregnant.

Although Wilkinson denied the pregnancy in April while attending Hefner’s 83rd birthday party in Las Vegas, her publicist has confirmed the former “Girls Next Door” star has been expecting since mid-March.

Still, the Playboy mogul is not the one responsible: Wilkinson is engaged to NFL wide receiver Hank Baskett and said the Philadelphia Eagle is the baby-daddy.

The Las Vegas Sun asked Wilkinson on April 4 if she was expecting when she decided to stick to non-alcoholic beverages at Hefner’s party at Palms Place.

“No, God no!” she cried. “No, no, no!”

She appeared to find the suggestion humorous and laughed as she told Baskett, who was at her side, about the seemingly-silly suggestion.

The athletic, busty blonde later explained that she was simply sticking to non-alcoholic drinks in effort to stay healthy.

Nearly 10 weeks later, however, Wilkinson publicly admitted yesterday that she is, in fact, pregnant. She made the news public through a post on her blog after unconfirmed reports and rumors swirled elsewhere.

“So the rumors are true,” she wrote. “I am pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Hank and I were beyond excited when we found out the news and Ive (sic) been dying to tell all of you but we were waiting for the perfect time to do it,” she said, adding, “Im (sic) sorry if you heard it first elsewhere.”

She is currently 12 weeks along, according to her publicist, and the baby is expected “around Christmas.”

It will be Wilkinson’s first child.

Her former Playboy Mansion housemate, Holly Madison, said she has known about the pregnancy since Memorial Day Weekend, when she joined Wilkinson and Baskett for a Friday afternoon pool party at Wet Republic.

While the bikini-clad Wilkinson appeared to show no physical signs of the pregnancy while sunning herself poolside at MGM Grand, Madison said Wilkinson and Basket shared their good news with her that afternoon.

“I’m really excited for her,” Madison said Wednesday night while walking the red carpet at CineVegas’ opening night screening at Planet Hollywood. “I think it’s awesome.”

The incoming “Peepshow” star was at one time very public about her desire to have children with Hefner. However, the former couple’s attempts to conceive, which reportedly included invitro therapy, proved unsuccessful.

She and the iconic playboy ended their relationship last fall.

Still, Madison showed no sign of baby envy Wednesday night and appeared genuinely happy for her former co-star.

“It’s really exciting,” she said, smiling.

As far as predictions go, Madison figures Wilkinson and Basket’s first baby will be a boy.

“I think a boy, because (Wilkinson) acts like a boy and Hank’s a boy,” she said.

“If she has a girl it’s going to act like a boy, a tomboy,” she added.

The mother-to-be appears to agree.

“I honestly still cant (sic) believe that soon Hank and I are going to have a little athlete running around the house,” she said in Wednesday’s blog post. “Seriously, the first thing this kid is going to see when its (sic) born is a football.”

Basket, 26, proposed to Wilkinson on Nov. 1 during a visit to the Seattle Space Needle.

Wilkinson previously dated Hefner for nearly five years, after the then-18-year-old met him at his 78th birthday party five years ago.

Though she moved out of the Playboy Mansion in December of last year, she and Hefner still remain friends.

In fact, Wilkinson and Baskett decided to tie the knot at a ceremony at the Playboy Mansion after Hefner extended the invitation.

Wilkinson has said her ex is “like family” to her, and that he and Baskett have become good friends.

Hefner is widely expected to give the bride away during the couple’s June 27 nuptials.

Like her fellow former Hefner hotties, Wilkinson developed a reality show of her own after leaving the Mansion and, therefore, the cast of “the Girls Next Door.”

Her show, “Kendra,” premiered on E! on Sunday.

Between her move from the Playboy Mansion, new show, upcoming wedding and incoming baby, Wilkinson has had quite the past few months.

“This has really been quite a year,” she said on her blog. “From my career to my engagement, and now a baby too! Im (sic) the luckiest girl in the world!!!!”

Meanwhile, Madison has made the move to Las Vegas and is in talks to develop a Vegas-based reality show of her own.

(She said she plans to rent out her L.A. condo and is currently shopping for a “Barbie’s Dream House”-like home here in Las Vegas.)

Hefner’s other most-recent former girlfriend and “Girls Next Door” personality, Bridget Marquardt, on the other hand, currently hosts a show, “Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches,” on the Travel Channel.